Current Obsessions
by CoCoNuT BrEeZe
Summary: Merton's fallen for a new girl, but what's her deal?


"Tommy! There you are! You weren't in first period…or second for that matter. Where were you?" Merton, looking rather Goth and suave in his red silk shirt and black dress pants, had just caught up with his werewolf buddy.  
  
"I had a rough night. Studying all night for that trig test. My mom let me sleep in until…well, trig class."  
  
"I told you about that test last week, Tommy. How could you have forgotten?" Realizing what he'd just said and whom he was talking to, he moved on. "Well, how do you think you did?"  
  
"I don't know. Some of the stuff seemed familiar, but I don't know…I think I may have actually passed." There was slight surprise in the jock-y teen's voice.  
  
"Well, good job, if you did pass, and if you didn't…" He gave Tommy a sympathetic gesture that was half like a shrug and half leaning back.   
  
Just as Tommy had gone into another discussion, Merton's eyes fixed on a female figure that was passing them. She was semi-tall, with long fire-red hair in stringy pieces cascading down her back. Her skin was pale, not deathly pale, but pale all the same. She was wearing a pair of black polyester/spandex/cotton pants that hugged every perfect curve of her body, a black 4-row stud belt wrapped loosely around her waist and a tight, bright red, cotton tank top.  
  
She clutched a few books in her arms to her chest and didn't look at anyone as she made her way quickly down the hallway. Merton's entire body turned to watch her as she passed he and Tommy, but she took no notice of him, seeming to be in a hurry to get to her fourth period class.  
  
"…And I tried to tell Lori that SpongeBob was actually a very deep show, and that Patrick is really a genius in disguise, but she--"  
  
"--Who's that?" Merton interrupted Tommy's story, dreamily, but insistent on finding out whom this girl was. Tommy turned his head to watch her walk away.  
  
"I don't know…She must be new. Poor girl." Tommy sighed sympathetically.  
  
"That's no girl, Tommy. That's a goddess. An angel…" Merton was still watching the direction she left in, even after she was no longer visible.  
  
"Well, Merton…Shall we put this under the box marked 'Current Obsessions?'" Tommy smirked, a quick run-through in his mind of all the girls that Merton once had it for. "I wonder what sort of paranormal force this one will be."  
  
Hearing the word "paranormal" from Tommy's mouth, he snapped out of his trance, mildly surprised that a four syllable word had even made its way into Tommy's brain, much less made it out.  
  
"She isn't paranormal…She's…amazing."  
  
"You don't know that. You haven't even talked to her yet. She could be a bitch," Tommy suggested.  
  
Merton gasped and looked at Tommy. "How can you say that? Nothing that beautiful could be anything less than--"  
  
"--Muffy." Tommy interjected.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Muffy, Merton. Muffy. Remember? Werewolf Slayer? Came to shoot me through the chest…"  
  
"Yeah, okay."  
  
"And Carole LeFevre. A were-cat type thing. Remember? And Melissa? Or should I say Medusa? And then there was--"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, Tommy, I got it! We'll just see. But there is no way that she could be anything less than an angel…"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Merton and Tommy made their way, feeling slightly bereft without Lori. She'd gone on vacation to the beach with her new boyfriend, Manny. Merton had come up with several theories that he was the anti-Christ packed into the body of a tall, muscular musician or a demonic sponge that had been granted a wish and turned into a human. But, from the advice given to him by Tommy, he wasn't worrying about it. Of course, Tommy, on the other hand, had taken up worrying about it all by himself, which seemed to be blowing over just fine with Merton. Not having to worry about much was keeping the adorable Goth situated just splendidly.  
  
As the two boys entered the classroom, Merton gasped in sheer bliss. The beautiful girl from five minutes earlier was sitting in the seat next to his. Tommy's seat.  
  
"Mr. Dawkins, I gave your seat to our new student, whom I'll be introducing later on. Mr. Dingle, since she seems to be of your…species…You'll be help responsible for showing her around." Mr. Bradley, undoubtedly their favorite teacher, gestured to an empty seat at the back of the room for Tommy and headed to the front of the classroom to begin class.  
  
Tommy looked to Merton, giving him a thumbs-up as his best buddy's face went even paler thank usual at the thought of having to talk to this girl. What if he made a fool out of himself? This was one girl he didn't want to slip away from him because of his uncanny ability to make girls leave in a single syllable. Nope. Not this time…  
  
"Students, please stop talking. No one cares about what you have to say." The class all turned to face Mr. Bradley, smiling at his deriding of them. They knew he was joking. "Now, if you'll give me a moment of your mal-adjusted, discontent, lives full of eternal failures, I'd like to introduce our new…female." The girl stood and eyed some of the guys in the room, looking slightly disappointed until she let her eyes rest on Merton.  
  
"I'm Nevaeh Manchester, but please, call me Vaeh. I expect you'll remember it. You'll all be screaming it later." She half smiled and tucked a piece of scarlet hair behind her ear. The males in the room, first shocked, then delighted at her bluntness and sexy audacity, cheered. The guys, consisting of jocks, nerds, conformist sheep and Merton all stared at her, Merton being the only silent one. The girls smiled, to her surprise, and Vaeh wondered if she'd accidentally made her way onto the social chain. She hoped not.  
  
"Well," Mr. Bradley cleared his throat. "Merton, the pale-skinned loner intellectual directly to your left will be showing you around for the next week or so. If he bothers you at all, just inform a few of your football players and they'll be sure to kill him horribly." The jocks all nodded emphatically, including Tommy, which, luckily, went unnoticed by Merton. He was staring still at Vaeh, who had just taken her seat again. Tommy got the vibe that Mr. Bradley was already worshipping the ground she walked on. The teacher and everyone else filled with testosterone.  
  
"Hey…Merton, was it?" She leaned on her arm and smiled to him sweetly. He could think of nothing else to do other than smile, a soft blush commandeering his cheeks. "You alright? I mean, honestly…Speak or something."  
  
"O-oh…S-Sorry. I'm…Marcus…" He'd been so shocked that she'd said his name, he'd actually forgotten that she'd said it. Or anything at all.  
  
"You mean Merton?"  
  
"Oh yeah…That's it. I just…It's just…"  
  
"Not too often that you meet a fellow Goth, is it?"  
  
"Not really. But, I mean…"  
  
"Vaeh, is this guy bothering you?" Mr. Bradley stood over Merton and Vaeh, glaring scornfully.  
  
"No, sir. Uhm…Do you suppose we could possibly be excused from the classroom? My father's very authoritarian, and I don't get much time to consort with my fellow scholars. I was hopeful that Mr. Dingle here could escort me throughout the campus grounds now, so that I can observe all of my lovely and picturesque school." She smiled pleasantly and twisted a piece of hair around her finger.   
  
"Of course you may." Mr. Bradley fished a pink pass out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Feel free to stay out of class as long as you'd like, Ms…Vaeh."   
  
She smiled to him and stood, pulling her black fishnet backpack over her shoulder. She pulled Merton up by his collar and he swiped his black coffin bag and followed her, or rather, was dragged by her out the door.  
  
"So what'd you say in there?" He pulled the straps over his shoulders and made it rest comfortably on his back.  
  
"I said that my dad was strict and I didn't get any time to hang out. I wanted you to show me around school now. That's all. Teachers like it when you use vocabulary that isn't really necessary."  
  
"I see…So, you're dad's really strict then?"  
  
"No. I just wanted out." She smiled evilly, melting him from the inside out.  
  
"Oh…And you brought me because…?"  
  
"Well, one: You're supposed to show me around. And two: You're probably the only other person in this school who wouldn't ask me why I am a 'freak' and then tell me that I'd make a good cheerleader." He smiled in response as they made their way down the hallway.  
  
"So…I'm going to ask this right off. What kind of evil force are you that's only being nice to me so you can get to Tommy?"  
  
"Tommy?"  
  
"Tommy Dawkins. Captain of the football team…"  
  
"What the hell would I want with the captain of a football team? And what evil force?"  
  
"Vampire, Greek Goddess, Werewolf Slayer, Were-cat, Evil Mind Control Bald Man that traps you in your greatest fears? Which are you?" She stopped walking, avoiding his question.  
  
"Well, I'll make you a deal. I'll promise to be good….and you promise to stop acting like someone you're not."  
  
"Mm-hmm…Beg pardon?"  
  
"You've been acting like a completely different person. I can tell. You're not yourself. You just seem uncomfortable in this persona you've taken on. Just say what's on your mind already."  
  
He stood there, looking at the ground for what was on his mind. "Uhm…I uh…" He racked his brain for something witty or charming to say, but the mere concept that she was talking to him at all, much less wanting him to be himself was absolutely mind-blowing.  
  
"That's it? That's what inside the mind of Merton? The letter I and a few incoherent noises?"  
  
"Fine…Okay…I think--"  
  
"--Liar. Sorry, couldn't resist. Please, continue."  
  
"I think…" He looked back at the floor, bracing himself for her laughter at what he was about to say. "I think you're the most beautiful person I've ever laid eyes on. You're gorgeous. The most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life." He looked back up at her, waiting for her response. Her laughter. Anything. Nothing came, just a small smile and a blush that spread across her creamy white cheeks. "So--"   
  
She cut him off again, pushing him against the nearest locker, minding his spikes. She looked over his face and wrapped her arms around his neck.  
  
"What're you do--" She put a finger to his mouth, then replaced the finger with her lips. She heard him inhale, as he hadn't been expecting it. He tried to pull out of the kiss, but his body wouldn't let him. Pretty soon, he'd forgotten all about his believing she was evil and his hands found her back. The feeling of her small, smooth, warm hand on the back of his neck made one of his hands leave her back and find her unused hand. He held it in his, kissing her and holding her against him. Her lips finally left his and she kept their faces very close, their mouths touching as she spoke.  
  
"I promise you…I am not evil. And I don't even know Tommy. I don't know who he is or why you would think I would be after him, but I don't. And I'm not."  
  
"So…what…who…" She kissed his lips again to keep him quiet.  
  
"If you're asking who I'm after…It's you. And not in the 'evil' way." She smiled. He beamed proudly at her.  
  
"Okay…So you want me…And you don't want Tommy. Well…this is an odd series of events. So…Okay. You wanna go to the Factory with me tonight?"  
  
"The Factory?"  
  
"Nice little club place with music, dancing, bowling and pizza. Pretty neat for a first date."  
  
"Date? You take a lot of people there?"  
  
"I've actually only been on one date." He looked down and blushed. "But I was thinking--"  
  
"--Lying again?" she teased. "You were thinking of considering this…a date?" He nodded slightly, feeling dumb and waiting for her rejection. It didn't come. "Okay."  
  
"Meet you there at 5?"  
  
"Better make it 5:30. My favorite show comes on at 5 and the Goth guy's really hot."  
  
"Okay, so…5:30 it is then."   
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Vaeh walked into her house, which was old and Victorian, looking pretty vacant from the outside. She set her fishnet backpack on the old chair beside the large gothic-style door and walked into the main room. It was large, very high ceilings and antique leather furniture. She was greeted by a voice from an office chair that's back was turned to her. She could not see the person in it.  
  
"Manchester."  
  
She sighed heavily and turned toward the chair. "Ominous voice," she delivered back.  
  
"He has sent me down here to come bring you back."  
  
"Has He? Well, terribly sorry to disappoint Him, but I'm not going back. I'm going to get what came here to get."  
  
"And what of the Goth? He is not of your concern."  
  
"Geez, talk like a normal person! I really wish you wouldn't refer to him as 'the Goth.' And Merton is of my concern. I want a little fun while I'm down here, thank you very much."  
  
"You will get the other? The one we wanted to send someone down here for to begin with? Before you so rudely stole the card to get out of our land before Chelle got to it."  
  
"Why would He want to send Chelle down here instead of me? I don't understand, I'm as good as anyone he could've sent."  
  
"You are not the type. He needs someone of a normal--"  
  
"Normal? You mean stereotypical, conformist? I'm terribly sorry that I'm not a standard."  
  
"You do not understand, Manchester! He does not think you can get the job done!"  
  
"I'll get it done. I promise you that. It will get done."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 


End file.
